My second First rugby Match

Matt, my youngest son, had his first rugby match last week. I was at the side of the field with camera in hand to record this great moment. Although not unexpected, he was everywhere on the field. As the smallest player, he should have been intimidated. Instead he tackled their biggest player, who was at least twice his size, again, and again, and again. They lost 3 - 1, and the single try was scored by him.

This was a match to make any parent proud, and I was no exception. It was awesome to watch his absolute determination regardless of the challenges. An attitude that will stand him in good stead for the rest of his life, so long as he can control it! Best he never gives me this look though...

One of the parents was so excited that she spent some time levitating!!!

Too much to do in one life time

Another week has blurred past living memory...


Isabella is back on sleep training. She found herself in the bad habit of waking up every other hour at night for a bottle. Now, she is going bottle free and not loving it.

Luke came third in his weight division at the Boland Judo trials and made it onto the Boland team. The SA Nationals take place at the end of June.

Matt fought like a champ, again, and won his division. He is too young for the Nationals, and seems completely unfazed that he will not be representing his Province, just yet.

I was even asked to join the team as a master. Hmm, I will have to think about that...

Six different community projects ate up some of my time. Nothing major, but a number of steps in the right direction for all of them.

Read 2 fiction books and half a non-fiction book. It turns out that Luke has read over 4,000 pages during his first school term. Not bad for a 9 year old, especially when one considers that one of those books was the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’!

A massive fire in our nature reserve has wrecked havoc. A friend’s wooden house is still standing unscathed, even though the fire burnt everything around it! 15 other families were not as lucky...

I got stuck into work and have started to produce some deliverables for a new project.

I entered two running races. This is my year to break my 3 year old goal of running two 21km races in less than 100 minutes.

I fell upstairs whilst rushing to deal with an Isabella screaming session at night. I kicked the stair so hard that I spun around and landed my pelvis on the corner of the stair. It was a little painful, and now a little bruised...

Realisation has struck home that I have written very little that is meaningful of late. Time to find time, and do some thinking.

Easter is only a week away. I am looking forward to the time I will get to spend in prayer from Thursday onwards.

and time goes on...

Luke and I took the Beast down to the sea for a surf. The Beast decided to stay at the beach and watch the two of us frolic in the water. A good call! The waves were small but it was hard work to tow Luke out to backline after every wave that he caught. He still has not mastered the art of duck diving and hence the need for my muscle power. Unfortunately, my muscles were feeling somewhat depleted after a mere two and a half hours at the Judoka practising all of the throws required for my Brown belt grading in two weeks time.


Just last week, Matthew asked if he could go to surf lessons, and so we spent Thursday evening in sea together. It was a very short session, but then again the weather was abysmal. Perhaps one day, I will get to spend some really valuable time surfing with my two boys...

It was wonderful to be in the water again. To feel these tiny waves sliding under my feet. To watch Luke’s joy as he experienced the same sensations! Somewhere in all of the salt water, sea spray, and beautiful blue sky I finally made the decision to declutter my life. I have thought about it, blogged about, and talked about it, but now it is time to do something about it.

Just about every evening in my week is taken up by some or other activity. I hardly see my wife in the evenings anymore. That must change! I want to spend more time with my wife doing stuff, instead of us doing our own stuff at the same time. For that reason, Action Cricket, Action Soccer, and Forum are all activities that must cease immediately. Other activities like some of my charity and church stuff will need to be phased out. Especially the stuff that I attend but make no meaningful contribution. That is just a waste.

Hopefully I will just be left with the crèche as a charity project, judo and surfing as my sporting pursuits, and time for my wife and children.

And then perhaps I can try again to be the father and husband I really yearn to be!